Back Charge To Sub

GenConJ

This may start more controversy than a Treasurewhore thread but what the hey...
Short scenario.
Paid a sub-contractor to do his thing. Cut a check on the evening of completion (dark-thirty). The next day I inspect the work and find alot of problems. Have called numerous times but get no return calls.
In five years of being my own pilot I have never had this happen. I pay on time and my guys have stood behind their work.
Before it goes to the lawyers I wanted to ask, what do you guys do? Do you have a std form for back charges... Is it worth the effort?

PipeGuy

Like you I've never had a sub bail on fixing deficient work. I have had subs avoid phone calls though. I find that it's usually a result of being overwhelmed by work load, not actually trying to avoid reponsibility for thw work. I think if it were me I 'd get in my truck and go find the guy and confront him person. It's hard not to face the music when the band is playing right there in front of you.
Back charges will be hard to collect if there's no outstanding payments left to be made. As to wether it's worth the effort, I'd say it is on 'principal'. I don't know what other forces are at play such as the satisfaction of your customer, monetary expense, etc.

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Fortunately I keep my feathers numbered for...for just such an emergency. -Foghorn Leghorn

PipeGuy

I should add that I don't have any subs that expect to be paid in less than 30 days - neither would I use one. In my industry 'great pay' is 30 day money and a customer that paid me in less (I've never had one) would merit certain favors that I'd have to outsource to specialists

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Fortunately I keep my feathers numbered for...for just such an emergency. -Foghorn Leghorn

Floorwizard

If there is a problem with a job one of my subs went out on, and they do not return our phone calls, and I have exausted efforts to reach them, then I pay another contractor to fix the problems, and backcharge the sub. So the next time they do some work thru us, we will deduct from pay.
usually we are talking 100 - 400 bucks, and sometimes it's more.
if the installer refuses to do additional work, then they are removed from our sub list.
we lose money rarely, but it all a part of business I guess. we don't have a high turn over rate on our subs, it's a tight knit family. that helps.

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"in 20 years you will regret more what you did not do than what you did"

Cole

Florcraft we do the exact same thing, it works out better.

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Grumpy

Well in the first case I tell my subs I pay bills twice a week. Much of the time I will pay them the same day, but by having a policy like this I can always buy myself an extra day or two to inspect if something doesn;t look proper in the night light.

There is not really much that you can do to fix problems like this. You can do what Flor said and back charge them against future work, however if they do no future work... Will you sue them? It's probably not worth the time nor effort. I really really really wish I had a cousin or best friend that would send the occasional threatening letter, or just pass me a stack of letterhead so I could. That would make life so much easier, since a lwayer will charge ya $200 bucks to send out a boiler plate threatening letter with his signature.

GenConJ

The repairs have been made.
We couldnt wait for this guy to maybe call back.
I guess it's just down to principal. It really kills me that someone would ugly up something so straightforward.
Shaking fist in air...
You can hide you mangy dog but someday this will catch up with you.

Floorwizard

you have to take care of your clients first.
subs are very important, but not as much as a customer.
sometimes you take a hit in your business, but imagine the hit you would take if you dragged your client along with you while you were waiting to be fair to your sub who hasn't called back.

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"in 20 years you will regret more what you did not do than what you did"

Mike Finley

No great controversy here yet. I think you make a really good argument for not paying on the spot, especially not without verifying the work first. If this is an ongoing relationship with a sub you can usually cut some slack because he has a track record with you and you pretty much know what to expect from him, but it sounds like this was a new guy? I gotta shake my finger at ya.

Glasshousebltr

Gots ta be carful, many maggots about.

Bob

TimWieneke

Our subs send us invoices for their work and we typically don't cut a sub's check until it passes inspection (local municipal inspection). That usually takes care of everything in regards to checking their work. It's not really that great of an issue because we just always use the best subs we can find.

Tim

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As Steve the Foreman would say, "Forgive him Lord, for he doesn't know what he's doing."